I want to move my headquarters and I don't want to compromise

Busy Beaver Button needed bigger digs. But there was more to consider than square footage.

Last summer, when a busload of seniors stopped by Busy Beaver Button’s Logan Square office to view its historical collection, the staff had to move the buttons outside so everyone could see. “We’re like, ‘Sorry, we’ve outgrown this place,’ ” founder Christen Carter recalls.

Carter wasn’t eager to move, even though her 1,400-square-foot space was stuffed with seven full-time and 15 part-time staffers and enough machinery to turn out some 100,000 buttons a week. Not to mention the 16,000-strong collection.

Since starting the company in her Indiana University dorm in 1995, Carter had built it up to bring in $1.5 million in revenue. She had moved often along the way. And it was a headache: The delicate printer could get knocked out, disrupting production. Plus, she owned her building and wanted to max out her investment. But it was time.

For most small-business owners thinking of relocating, the first question is whether to buy or lease, says Andrew Magliochetti, director of investment sales at Jameson Realty. “Small-business owners, in particular, use their real estate as an additional source of investment. But in some cases, it’s more capital efficient for a business to lease . . . if they think they’re going to be growing.”

Carter wanted to own again.

Her list of desires was long. The team wanted to stay in Logan Square to avoid losing staff and be on one floor to make production and communication easier. They wanted a dedicated museum space and a storefront for walk-ins. She also required a building that could be zoned for mixed use and had residential units she could rent to defray costs.

Christen Carter. Photo by John R. Boehm

The purchase

Carter, 44, and her brother Joel, 48, the company’s chief operating officer, looked at roughly 10 buildings before settling on a site just a block and a half west of their current location.

The winner: a vacant building gutted twice by fire that they bought for $250,000. The fire damage was a selling point, actually. “Being able to see all of it exposed, you could just see how well-made it was,” Christen says.

The building wasn’t zoned for residential and commercial use, but Christen had a good lawyer and an alderman who wanted to see the building restored. “(Rezoning is) usually the hardest thing,” she says, but the alderman’s support made it one of the smallest hurdles.

Christen financed the purchase and renovation with a Wintrust SBA 504 loan that was originated through SomerCor, a nonprofit small-business development organization. She recently applied for a SomerCor Small Business Improvement Fund grant to address some of the things she can’t afford to add to the new space, like solar panels.

The renovation

Two complications drove up renovationcosts. “We realized we didn’t own one of the walls.” The floor joists went directly into the adjoining building. “So that was $40,000 unexpected.” They also wanted to install geothermal heating and cooling again. Their estimate was roughly $80,000, but the total costs ended up around $130,000.

So far they’ve exceeded their $530,000 renovation estimate by $200,000. Christen personally financed the overage, and the siblings have saved with a DIY approach. Joel trawled Craigslist and salvage stores for pieces that look original and cost little or nothing.

Now the company is aiming to open this month. The move coincides with a website redesign and an update to the accounting and customer service systems. They’re also designing a new workflow, rearranging teams in the new space to increase efficiency. “Big year of building,” Joel says.